Month: September 2015

Internet Governance

Unamused: Chicago residents sued the city, alleging that a nine percent “Amusement Tax” on online streaming services such as Netflix and Spotify, which the services pass onto consumers, exceeds the Finance Department’s mandate and violates the federal Internet Tax Freedom Act.

Drone Zone: California Governor Jerry Brown vetoed a bill that would have made flying a drone below 350 feet while over private property a transgression similar to criminal trespass; the decision results in a major victory for companies that aim to implement drone delivery services.

Privacy

It’s In Their DNA: Ancestry.com’s terms and conditions permit the site to serve targeted advertisements based on analysis of genetic information submitted by users “for purposes of scientific study.”

Information Security And Cyberthreats

Hacking Up With The Kardashians: A developer discovered security flaws on the Kardashians’ websites that enable access to over half a million members’ personal information, including full names, email addresses, photos, and videos.

Intellectual Property

…And The Ruling Goes To: GoDaddy won a cybersquatting case against The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences; The Academy failed to show that GoDaddy acted in bad faith by allowing customers to purchase domains such as “academyawards.net” and “oscarsredcarpet.com.”

Free Expression And Censorship

Don’t Hate—Expurgate: After pledging to accept a record number of refugees this year, Germany will work with Facebook, Internet service providers, and other social networks to crack down on hateful speech about refugees in “response to growing terrorist propaganda and xenophobic movements.”

Practice Note

Dance Dance Baby: The Ninth Circuit settled an enduring conflict between Universal Music and a mother who posted a YouTube video of her infant dancing to Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy” by affirming that “copyright holders must consider whether a use is fair before sending a takedown notice.”

On The Lighter Side

Habemus Popemoji! Thirty-five emoji stickers of Pope Francis “eating sandwiches, hugging babies, playing soccer, and taking selfies” have been designed in preparation for his first U.S. visit next week.

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Joel R. Reidenberg
Stanley D. and Nikki Waxberg Chair and Professor of Law and Founding Academic Director, CLIP

N. Cameron Russell
Executive Director, Fordham CLIP

Thomas B. Norton
Privacy Fellow, Fordham CLIP

Noelle Park & Inés Spinnato
Editorial Fellows, Fordham CLIP

Internet Governance 

Stay Tuned: After modified WiFi routers caused interference problems at airports, the FCC is seeking comment on new restrictions that would limit consumers’ ability to alter those devices for operation beyond their licensed frequency parameters.

Privacy

That Stings! A new DOJ policy requires that federal enforcement agencies establish probable cause and obtain warrants before using stingray cellphone tracking technology for criminal investigations.

T.M.I.: Uber riders who used the service’s “share your ETA” feature had their sensitive ride-related data hosted online and made accessible through search engines; Uber changed the feature so that links to pages displaying the data deactivate after 48 hours.

Information Security And Cyberthreats

Impenetrable Vault? A “hobbyist” hacking team discovered programming errors in the “bcrypt” encryption algorithm protecting Ashley Madison user passwords that make the otherwise formidable algorithm “orders of magnitude faster to crack.”

Intellectual Property

As Awkward As It Gets: Getty Images is suing bloggers who publish without permission pictures utilizing the “Socially Awkward Penguin”, one of the company’s stock images; the string of suits raises questions about the ownership rights to memes collectively recontextualized by the Internet community.

Free Expression And Censorship 

Parody Patrol: An Illinois city settled with a man who brought a civil rights suit after he was arrested for “impersonating” the city’s mayor through a parody Twitter account.

Practice Note 

VPPA Claims Dismissed: The Ninth Circuit dismissed a plaintiff’s failure to purge and impermissible transfer claims against Sony, holding that the statute neither allows for a “private cause of action for mere improper retention of covered information” nor prohibits intra-corporate transfers between “intra-household” entities.

On The Lighter Side 

Spy Kids: This baby car seat “doubles as a fully functional spying rig.”

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Joel R. Reidenberg
Stanley D. and Nikki Waxberg Chair and Professor of Law and Founding Academic Director, CLIP

N. Cameron Russell
Executive Director, Fordham CLIP

Thomas B. Norton
Privacy Fellow, Fordham CLIP

Noelle Park & Inés Spinnato
Editorial Fellows, Fordham CLIP

Internet Governance 

Ain’t No Competition: Google has been asked to appear before India’s Competition Commission after being accused of manipulating its search results to favor its own services and those of paid advertisers over competitors’ more popular or relevant results.

Privacy

Big Brother, Where Art Thou? A new report by London-based Privacy International reveals that Colombian police and intelligence agencies have been implementing “secret and unlawful” mass surveillance systems and relying on controversial spyware tools for the past decade.

Information Security And Cyberthreats 

Who Is Watching Your Baby? A recent study by cybersecurity firm Rapid7 Inc. revealed design flaws in popular baby monitors that make them and the networks to which they are connected vulnerable to hackers.

Intellectual Property  

“Billion Dollar” Data Theft? PhantomAlert, an Israeli-based traffic app, sued Google’s Waze after discovering its own planted fictitious information in Waze’s database.

Popcorn Pirates: A U.S. production studio filed a complaint against the Popcorn Time streaming service and sixteen Oregon defendants who the studio accused of willfully downloading and distributing copyrighted movies using the service.

Free Expression And Censorship  

Sockpuppets: The Wikimedia Foundation has suspended almost 400 accounts for engaging in “undisclosed paid activity” on certain pages that generated “biased or skewed information, unattributed material, and potential copyright violations.”

Practice Note 

A Bump In The Road? A California federal judge granted as many as 160,000 Uber drivers class action status in their suit against the ride-sharing company for mileage and tip reimbursement; this status also allows the drivers to challenge their worker classification.

On the Lighter Side 

The Purr-fect View: Navigate Hiroshima’s points of interest through the eyes of its four-legged population.

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Joel R. Reidenberg
Stanley D. and Nikki Waxberg Chair and Professor of Law and Founding Academic Director, CLIP

N. Cameron Russell
Executive Director, Fordham CLIP

Thomas B. Norton
Privacy Fellow, Fordham CLIP

Noelle Park & Inés Spinnato
Editorial Fellows, Fordham CLIP